🗞️ Three stripes

Good morning. Adidas is suing Sydney label White Fox for trademark infringement, in a case expected to turn on stripe motifs it says sit too close to the three it has spent decades defending.

White Fox was built by Georgia and Daniel Contos over about 13 years and posted net income of $93.8m in the 2025 financial year, down more than 10% after US tariffs bit into its main export market.

Adidas won its last Australian stripe case in 2013, but courts in the US, Britain and Germany have all since sided against it, and the British ones went further and ruled several of its stripe trademarks too vague to be valid.

All the headlines and more below...

VICTORIA BANS NEW DATA CENTRES FROM DRINKING WATER AND SETS 150-METRE BUFFER FROM HOMES

Victoria will ban new data centres from using drinking water and require them to source their own renewable energy under planning rules Premier Ben Carroll said would be introduced as soon as possible. Data centres will be barred from locating near schools and childcare centres, and developers will have to contribute to a local investment fund for TAFEs and parks.

The policy follows rising opposition to data centre construction across Melbourne's inner-west, where residents forced electricity distributor Jemena to pause installation of 15-metre-high power poles designed to support NextDC's West Footscray data centre. The facility, metres from homes, has drawn complaints over air pollution from diesel backup generators, constant noise and expansion plans.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese attempted to establish a national framework for data centres but could not reach consensus with all states on renewable energy requirements. A Senate inquiry into AI and data centres will hold hearings in Melbourne on Wednesday.

AUSTRALIAN NEWS

• Ultra-cheap AI-enabled smart glasses sold in Australia have serious Bluetooth vulnerabilities that let hackers seize control and access stored images and videos. LINK

• A growing cohort of first home buyers is turning to shared equity and low-deposit non-bank lenders as rising interest rates, falling home values and tighter bank lending make traditional mortgages harder to secure. AFR 

• RBA governor Michele Bullock has ruled out cutting rates to support falling house prices as she warns of ongoing housing market declines and explains that higher interest rates do not cause inflation. LINK

• CBA has forecast AI could add up to 2 percentage points to Australia’s productivity over 5 years and deliver $58.3 billion in gains, while the RBA remains cautious. AFR 

QUEST TELLS 1.99M CUSTOMERS TO REPLACE PASSPORTS AND LICENCES AFTER BREACH EXPOSED CREDIT CARD CVVS

Quest Apartment Hotels has told 1,991,613 customers to reissue passports and driver's licences after a data breach in August exposed passport numbers, driver's licence details, credit card numbers with CVV codes and other personal information dating back to before June 2025. Quest first notified customers in August that unauthorised access to its database had leaked names, email addresses and contact details through a vulnerability in a third-party service provider, then confirmed in follow-up messages that the breach also captured financial and identity documents.

One customer was told his credit cards including CVV numbers, car registration and date of birth had been leaked, and that expired cards were also compromised. Another customer who stayed at Quest multiple times had to cancel several credit cards and reissue her licence. A third customer was told her credit card details from a booking made 6 years ago during COVID-19 lockdowns were exposed, despite never having stayed at the property.

Reissuing a driver's licence can take up to 14 days depending on the state. A passport replacement takes up to 6 weeks to process.

COMPANY NEWS

• Adidas has sued White Fox in the Federal Court alleging its clothing uses stripe motifs deceptively similar to Adidas’s three-stripe trademarks, while the fast-growing label’s 2025 net income fell to $93.8M. AUS

• Taxibox has launched a retail partnership with Bunnings to offer mobile storage and interstate moving bookings via the Move with Bunnings platform as the hardware chain expands its services marketplace. LINK

• Jetstar staff covered by the ASU have begun 24 hours of protected industrial action waiving excess baggage, seat change and other fees as they push for higher pay and better conditions. LINK

• Optus is considering restricting or banning smart glasses in its stores and offices as it reviews privacy and security risks. LINK

• Visa has promoted a frictionless, card-linked and increasingly gamified loyalty model that automatically tracks transactions, improves customer data and targets measurable increases in repeat purchases and engagement. LINK 

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CHART OF THE DAY

Widow's Bay sweeps the 2026 Emmys with 14 wins

ONE MORE SCROLL

Editor’s Pick: BDH-CQ, a small experimental AI model, has solved about 30% of ARC-AGI-1 reasoning puzzles without language-based chain-of-thought.

Draft Pick: Sydney Roosters have rushed halfback Sam Walker back from syndesmosis surgery after 4 weeks to face the Dolphins in the NRL preliminary finals as Penrith regain key players.

Doctor’s Pick: Gua sha looks good on Instagram, but is it worth the hype or a waste of time?

TRIVIA

Name as many one word chemical symbols as you can. There are 14 but we'll give you the win if you get 10!

Answers below

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ANSWERS

Boron (B), Carbon (C), Fluorine (F), Hydrogen (H), Iodine (I), Potassium (K), Nitrogen (N), Oxygen (O), Phosphorus (P), Sulfur (S), Uranium (U), Vanadium (V), Tungsten (W), and Yttrium (Y).

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